Exhibition of Jewish Upbuilding in Bureya in Czar’s Moscow Palace

An exhibition of the Jewish transmigration and settlement work in Bureya has been opened in the Georgiewska Hall, one of the finest halls in the Kremlin, the former Palace of the Czar, as part of an economic exhibition of the developments in the Far East that is being held in connection with the session of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets. In this hall, in which the walls are covered with the names of the chevaliers of the Order of St. George, the highest award for bravery on the battlefield under the Czars, there are now arranged exhibits and diagrams illustrating the natural wealth of Bureya, and the plans and prospects for the development of the region. There are one or two big maps of Bureya as it is now, and as it will look after all the present plans of industrialisation and agrarianisation are completed. The lettering on the maps is in Yiddish.

Among the exhibits are all the decrees and decisions of the Soviet Government with regard to setting aside Bureya for Jewish settlement, its development as a Jewish territorial unit and other decisions affecting the Jewish work in Bureya. There are also photographs showing the progress of the work, beginning with the settlers starting out from their old homes in White Russia and Ukraine, and in Latvia, Lithuania and the Argentine, ending up with their occupation of the houses which have been built for them in the Region. There are diagrams showing the rate of settlement, as follows: 750 people emigrated to Bureya in 1928, 1,200 in 1929, 1,400 in 1930 and 3,800 in 1931, and it is planned that 19,000 will be settled there during 1932. There are exhibits of the flora and fauna of the region, diagrams of the climatic conditions, the growth of mechanisation and the development of co-operatives, working models of factories and specimens of their products, specimens of coal, asbestos, copper, and other minerals found in Bureya, and of vegetables and cereals produced there, as well as diagrams and photographs illustrating the development of cultural life and educational facilities in the region.